3 Methods How to Cook Parboiled Rice With Ease

Brown rice is a great source of carbohydrates packed with all the vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients washed away when milling white rice. This leaves your whole brown rice with all its oil and nutty flavor.

If you are not a fan of brown rice, then white rice sucks! The same process that gives you white rice takes out the some of the essential nutrients from it! Well, there is a great alternative for brown rice if you don’t like it.

You may want parboiled rice instead. How to cook parboiled rice? Well, let’s find out soon!

What Is Parboiled Rice?

You may have heard about converted rice. Parboiled rice and converted rice is the same thing. Rice paddy undergoes a special process to preserve the nutrients from the bran, germ, and husk by forcing them to enter the grain.

The process is called parboiling or partial boiling. Wole rice paddies are soaked in water, steamed, dried, and then milled. This results to a glassy brownish rice. Converted rice often has shorter cooking time and is chewier than regular milled white rice. This makes them an even more convenient choice!

How to Cook Parboiled Rice

Now, let’s answer that question! Rice, in general, is cooked in pretty much the same way. They just sometimes vary in the ratio of water and the length of time to cook. You can easily adjust the texture of your rice to your liking by adding more or limiting water.

There are three popular ways to cook parboiled rice. You can cook it on your stovetop, a steamer or a rice cooker. Depending on what is available in your kitchen, you can freely choose to go whichever method is convenient to you! It’s not that hard!

If you have time to prepare this beforehand, go ahead and soak your rice for one hour before cooking it. This lessens your cooking time quite a bit. If you don’t have the luxury of time to do this, jump straight to step 2!

​Gently rinse parboiled rice.

Using a strainer, gently rinse rice over running water. Washing it thoroughly effectively removes the fortified vitamins. Do rinse your rice minimally. You can skip this if you are sure about the sanitation of the brand you are using.

Measure the water.

Some varieties of rice require more or less water than the others. Follow what is written on the label to get a tender result. If you want your rice a little sticky and fluffier, (take a mental note of this, too much water will give you a mushy rice!) add more water.

If you want it chewier and tender, skimp on an ounce of water.
It takes about ¾ to 1 cup of water for every cup of rice. Throw a pinch of salt to bring out the flavor.​

Bring to a boil.

Set your fire to high and bring to a boil. Give it a little mix to distribute the heat evenly to the top.

Simmer.

Simmer your rice for about 15 to 20 minutes (or less if you pre-soaked your rice). Wait until all the water has reduced.

Al dente.

Take a few grains and give it a bite. You should not feel something grainy in the middle of your rice. Serve hot! Transfer your rice to a serving platter and fluff it.

Pro Tip: If this is your first-time cooking rice, do not leave it unattended. The rice will stick at the bottom of the pan when it gets overcooked!

The Steamer Method

Set up your steamer according to the specifications provided by the manufacturer.

Pro Tip: Here’s an awesome hack. Instead of placing water over the steamer and waiting for it to heat up, put boiled water instead. This way your water will already be steamy as soon as you place it!

Wash your rice.

Gently rinse your parboiled rice using a strainer. You don’t need to pre-soak your rice before steaming it as this takes longer time and essentially soaks your rice for a longer time.

But if you want your rice softer, you can still pre-soak it.

Use a steamer-safe container.

Some electronic steamer sets include a tray for rice. Place your rice on it and add water. You wouldn’t want to put too much water as the steam will also be absorbed by your rice as it cooks.

One part water for ever part of rice is a good ratio. Don’t forget to add a few pinch of salt!

Pro Tip: Don’t have a rice tray? I have found out that microwave-safe containers are a great alternative as they resist heat.

Steam it and leave it.

Put your tray on the steamer and wait for about forty minutes. It takes a longer time to cook rice in a steamer. This leaves you time to prepare that perfect stir fry while waiting for your rice to cook!

Check consistency.

Check your rice from time to time to check for doneness. Some varieties cook quicker. So make sure to test if your rice is already done. When done, it shouldn’t have a grainy core.

Serve hot!

You don’t have to worry about burning your rice using this method!
Transfer to serving plate and fluff. Can you smell that awesome nutty goodness? Yum! Perfect for your roasts and kimchi!

The Rice Cooker Method

The easiest method is using a rice cooker. Well, a rice cooker was specifically designed for this purpose! If you love rice and cook it often at home, having a rice cooker will give you convenience!

Step 1

STEP 2

STEP 3

STEP 4

STEP 5

STEP 6

STEP 7

Set up your rice cooker.

Set-up your rice cooker and follow the instructions on the manufacturers manual. Setting it up is quite easy. Just plug it, and the rice cooker has to pre-set cooking temperature optimized for cooking rice.

It has an automatic feature that switches to low heat when cooked to keep your rice warm.

Soak it or not, your preference.

You can soak it your rice before cooking it to lessen cooking time.

Rinse rice gently

Strain your rice over running water gently. Make sure you don’t wash off all vitamin fortifications!

Put water and rice on the removable rice cooker pot.

The rice cooker has a neat trick. It has a removable pot! This makes clean up easy! Use your preferred water and rice ratio and add a pinch of salt.

Just a few pinches of salt will suffice. You don’t want your rice salty. You just add salt to bring out the flavor. Turn on your rice cooker and wait.

Pro Tip: You can do all the steps above and place it your rice over the rice cooker but don’t turn it on yet! Soak it for an hour before turning it on to lessen cooking time. But you have to do this an hour earlier of your dinner time target

Give it a stir.

Give it a gentle stir after a few minutes to even out the heat distribution.

Wait for it to cook.

Wait for your rice cooker to automatically switch to keep warm. Wait for a few minutes until all the water and bubbles have evaporated.

Serve hot.

Fluff and serve it hot! Aside from keeping you from burning the bottom of the non-stick pot, another cool trick of a rice cooker is it can keep your rice warm when it’s switched on! Nothing beats a warm steamy rice for your barbecue and chillis!

Final Words

Rice is a good source of carbohydrates. Brown rice has the same contents but has the bran and germ intact which is packed with vitamins and minerals! But not everyone is a fan of bran rice. You may want to try parboiled rice if you don’t like the flavor of brown rice!

Serve it hot for dinner and your family and friends will surely enjoy it! Stir fry and barbecue are awesome with it!
I hope I have answered how to cook parboiled rice clearly and help you make that perfect fluffy rice! Had fun reading this post? Share this to your friends! Don’t hesitate!

If you want to clear something out, or if you have questions, leave a comment below, and I will get back to you as soon as I can!

Kristin Ryals

My name is Kristin, and I'm a housewife with big love for cooking. When I'm not bringing on the Food Network and attempting to become America's Next Top Chef, I'm browsing online for unique recipes to awe my friends with. Outside of the world of cooking (as if there is one!), I enjoy reading, skydiving, live music, and of course, shopping!

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